Civil War is a smart comic book with a different take on what it means to be a superhero. It’s about a group of superheros who accidentally wipe out a neighborhood in Connecticut while battling villains for a reality television show. This accident causes a public outcry and splits the superhero community down the middle. The plot is obviously inspired by the events following 9/11, which is why I feel like it would have been more fun to read years ago, when it first came out. My one criticism was that it seemed as if the writers wanted to pose each set of characters on opposite sides of a philosophical debate with no right or wrong answer, but you can kind of tell which side they favor. Moral ambiguity is what made Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns such great comic books and Civil War flirts with this idea without taking it all the way. I also understand there’s more to the story beyond this collection and I would love to get my hands on it. The concept is brilliant but, unfortunately, the graphic novel was too short to delve deep enough into it.